By Bamidele Famoofo
Zenith Bank Plc, a leading commercial bank in Nigeria with market capitalization of about N4.23trillion, recorded a tight growth in profit in the financial year ended December 31, 2025, standing at about N1.04 trillion compared with N1.03trillion in 2024. It represents a growth of 0.74 percent.
Despite the marginal growth in profitability, the Bank, however, increased its reward to shareholders, offering a total dividend of N10 per share as against N4 per share in 2024, representing a dividend yield of 8.5 percent.
The Bank reported gross earnings of N4.19 trillion for the 2025 financial year, up 5.6 percent from N3.97 trillion in 2024, driven largely by a 35 percent jump in interest income to N3.67 trillion. This pushed net interest income up by 52.7 percent to N2.64 trillion, with net interest margin improving to 13 percent from 10 percent.
However, non-interest income weakened significantly as trading and foreign exchange gains swung to a loss of N63.1 billion from a gain of N1.1 trillion in the prior year, limiting overall operating income growth to 7.6 percent at N3.04 trillion.
The bank’s balance sheet remained resilient, with total assets growing by 5.0 percent to N31.46 trillion and shareholders’ equity rising by 22.2 percent to N4.92 trillion. Loans and advances expanded modestly by 4.9 percent to N10.45 trillion, while investment in treasury bills surged by 74 percent to N4.66 trillion, reflecting a more cautious asset allocation.
Despite softer profitability, the bank’s valuation remains attractive, trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.44x and price-to-book of 0.52x, with an earnings yield of 41 percent and a dividend yield of 8.5 percent.
The board declared a final dividend of N8.76 per share (dividend yield at 8.50%), bringing the total dividend for the financial year to N10.00 (2024: N4.00K per share).
